Obama asks NATO members to ‘step up’

‘This can’t just be a U.S. exercise or a British exercise,’ president says

By

CarolE. Lee

MatthewDalton

BRUSSELS — U.S. President Barack Obama said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine represented a challenge to the long-held view that Europe’s borders cannot be redrawn by force, and called for greater sanctions and military preparedness in response.

Mr. Obama, in an address Wednesday before 2,000 mostly young people in Brussels, said further U.S. and Western sanctions are forthcoming, even without additional Russian incursions.

Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama speaking in Brussels Wednesday.

The action is needed because the U.S. and Europe must not sit idly as Russia pursues “the old way of doing things,” he said. “That message would be heard not just in Europe, but in Asia and the Americas, in Africa and the Middle East.”

The U.S. and European Union agreed Wednesday to pursue ways to reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian energy in the wake of Moscow’s incursion into Ukraine, and vowed to complete a trade agreement they said would ease the flow of natural-gas exports to Europe.

Obama’s discussions with European leaders will continue Wednesday with a meeting with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

He said he is looking to do more to ensure a regular NATO presence in European countries that feel vulnerable. He also called on some NATO members, without citing specific countries, to step up their contributions.

“This can’t just be a U.S. exercise or a British exercise,” Mr. Obama said. “Everybody’s going to have to make sure they’re engaged and involved, and I think that will help build confidence in some of those border states.”

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